Boys’ tennis splits two matches against Cupertino

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The Palo Alto High School boy’s tennis team won one out of two matches against Cupertino High School at home on Thursday, March 17th.

The boys played two matches to make up for one that was rained out earlier in the season. Both of the teams agreed to do both matches on the same day, instead of having to compete on two separate days.

“Normally, our league rules say you have to play two out of three sets, but because we were rained out and more rain is expected next week, we thought in order to expedite the matter we decided to try and fit them in one day,” Coach Andy Harader said. “In order to do that, we played pro sets which allowed us to finish both our matches in a day.”

The shorter matches were achieved by playing pro sets. This is when players play only one set, winning once they get to eight games. Normally, high school tennis is best out of three sets, and having the winner of each set be the one to first get to six games.

Playing two matches in the heat led to many challenges for the Paly team. Early in the first match, captain Shiv Matta (‘16) retired early, due to fatigue after receiving a concussion a few weeks before starting the season. In the second match, freshman Adam Love (‘19) suffered from sickness, but kept playing.

“Unfortunately, in both matches we had sickness,” Harader said. “This is the first hot day and we played two matches. We probably need to condition more so that we are in better shape when we go into this kind of depth in a match situation.”

However, in the first match the Vikings were able to defeat the Pioneers four to three matches. Carl Goodfriend (‘16) and Adrian Smith (‘17) were able to help their team to victory with their individual wins.

Sadly, in the second match the Vikings were not able to keep a winning streak, losing five matches to two.

The double team made of Henry Badger (‘17) and Hunter North (‘18) were able to win both of their matches. The won the first match 8-3, and the second match 8-4.

“I think that we performed well although we were under some tough conditions, and I’m proud of my team,” Badger said.

After the team’s loss, the boys are looking forward to their next match.

“It was good we got the first match, but it’s rough that we came up short in the second,” North said. “We just have to bounce back in our next match.”

Paly’s next match is against Monta Vista High School at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22nd, at Monta Vista High School.